This post is in cooperation with Purina. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

That is Sammi. She has been in our family for many years. Her birthday was May 24th, when she turned 15 years old! That is so awesome, right?

Several years ago, we noticed that Sammi was declining cognitively. The changes were slow but we did notice that she paced more, licked obsessively on her feet, didn’t seem to do the things she normally would (like climb stairs), and acted as though she didn’t even recognize us. My husband jokingly said she was senile. While that isn’t truly the right word, it pretty much summed up what we felt was happening. Our sweet pup was getting old and not behaving like she had in the past. She was losing her cognitive abilities.

Last year at the Purina Better With Pets Summit, I learned about a new food that Purina Pro Plan was going to be putting out. I watched a video and ended up in tears. I was watching another dog doing very similar behaviors that my Sammi did. The difference is that this dog was on a trial of the new Pro Plan food and showed significant changes. It no longer did the odd behaviors and seemed to be more alert and responsive. I knew that we had to try this new food as soon as we could.

Purina Pro Plan introduced Bright Mind 7+ earlier this year, a breakthrough formula containing enhanced botanical oils shown to promote alertness and mental sharpness in dogs seven and older. We jumped at the chance to buy it and try it out. I wanted to see if my Sammi could have the same results the dogs on the videos had. We started Sammi on the food and waited.

It was about 4-5 weeks after we started the food that I noticed the first signs that the food was helping Sammi. She stopped pacing at night. She wasn’t hopping on her front feet without a reason. She seemed to recognize us a bit more. As more time has gone on, we noticed even more changes. Sammi wants to be pet again; in fact, she will push on you until you do pet her. She looks you in the eye when you talk to her. She comes when you call her and she knows her boundaries (like where she is supposed to be in the yard). She sleeps better and rests more peacefully. Sammi has even started to make some decisions that shocked us, like going to the back door when she knows we will be there as opposed to the front. Finally, Sammi has started to play with toys again, something she hasn’t done in many, many years!

All of these changes have made me so happy. I have some of my sweet Sammi back with us! We know that she doesn’t have much time left with us, but the time left is going to be better thanks to Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind 7+. I wanted my Sammi to die with dignity and I feel she will be able to do that now.

This week, during Pet Appreciation Week, Purina hosted a senior dog appreciation and adoption event in New York City. The Purina Pro Plan BRIGHT MIND 7+ Clubhouse – For Senior Dogs Only – featured areas to sit, stay and play with adoptable dogs over age seven, as well special appearances by a few “celebrity” senior dogs including Mishka the Talking Husky and Chloe Kardoggian. I would have loved to go but I wasn’t able. It looks like it was a great time!

You can help feed senior pets!

Throughout Pet Appreciation Week, pet lovers across the country can show their support via social media by sharing what’s great about their own senior dogs. For each photo of a seven or older dog posted that includes #MySeniorDog and tags @ProPlan from June 7 – 13, the brand will donate one pound of BRIGHTMIND 7+ – up to 25,000 pounds – to the Purina Pro Plan Rally to Rescue network to help adoptable senior dogs nationwide.

We are huge fans of Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind 7+ and I tell everyone that will listen how happy we are with the results. I wanted to offer one of you a coupon for the food for you to try! Enter below.